Virginia Tech faces a pivotal season under Justin Fuente: Can the Hokies reassert themselves in the ACC Coastal? (2024)

Editor’s note:This is part ofa continuing seriespreviewing the Power 5 and top Group of 5 teams for the 2021 college football season.

BLACKSBURG, Va. — When rumors swirled about his job status amid reports of a meeting with athletic director Whit Babco*ck immediately after the season, it seemed like the Justin Fuente era at Virginia Tech was on the brink, only for the Hokies to announce he’d be back for 2021

“It’s just overreaction,” Fuente said on his radio show about the negative rumors. “We’re rolling.”

Hokies fans might dispute that. It’s inarguably a pivotal season for Fuente in Year 6. An athletic director doesn’t hold a news conference to explain why he didn’t fire the coach unless things are nearing a breaking point. And coming off a 5-6 season — a strange one given the pandemic, but still one that ended with Tech’s second losing record in the past three years, a rarity in Blacksburg — there’s no question that it’s now or never for a coach once lauded as the perfect successor to Frank Beamer.

Those feelings have changed in many Hokies circles. With longtime Beamer right-hand man and defensive coordinator Bud Foster squarely in retirement, the roster comprised entirely of Fuente’s recruits, the coaching staff all of Fuente’s choosing and the athletic department recently launching a $400 million fundraising campaign — $30 million of which is earmarked for direct improvements to the football program — the time is now to see progress made on the field.

Just what Fuente needs to do to keep his job this fall is vague, intentionally so. Babco*ck smartly didn’t put a specific number of wins as a barometer, instead wanting to see general improvement. What exactly that means is up for interpretation, though it almost certainly involves a bowl game, challenging for the ACC Coastal division title and, for the love of God, no more embarrassing losses along the lines of Old Dominion in 2018, Duke in 2019 and, in a bit of coaching malpractice during the final seconds, Liberty last fall.

There’s hope this team can turn things around, though, and a return to normalcy should help — in life but also on the practice field, where Fuente’s goal of being a top-notch developmental program took its biggest hit due to disruptions in the last calendar year.

“If there’s one thing that we’ve learned it’s how important practice actually is,” Fuente said.

The Hokies think they have a quarterback in Braxton Burmeister who can push the ball downfield better to a decent returning group of pass-catchers, complementing a ground game that, even though it loses critical pieces, at last put it all together last year. After a year of learning on the fly and battling COVID-19 absences, the defense gets an actual offseason to dive into Justin Hamilton’s scheme and build on a promising conclusion to the season.

Does that mean these Hokies will hearken back to Beamer’s heyday when they ran the ACC with four of seven titles from 2004-2010? No. But in a league where everything’s muddled beyond Clemson and the Coastal division is an annual crapshoot, there’s enough at Tech to be in that mix, which is probably what Fuente needs to do to see a seventh year in Blacksburg.

Roster analysis

Quarterback: The field has cleared thanks to the transfer portal, with the primary starter the past two years, Hendon Hooker, heading to Tennessee and Quincy Patterson going to North Dakota State. That leaves Braxton Burmeister, a former Oregon transfer, as the undisputed No. 1, a designation Virginia Tech hasn’t had for a few years.

If he plays like he did against Clemson and Virginia at the end of the year (73.5 percent completion rate, 9.97 yards per attempt) compared to the beginning (41 percent, 6.2 per attempt in the first three games), then the Hokies should be in business. Coaches like his anticipation and touch on passes, things that weren’t Hooker’s forte, and Burmeister is an elusive runner with some burst. A big question, however, is durability. He had three injuries last year (hand cramps, broken toes and a knee) that forced him to miss action, and though he’s bulked up some this offseason to better handle the load of a starter, don’t expect the Hokies to run him like they did Hooker last fall.

That’s because the backups are inexperienced. Knox Kadum, a one-time James Madison commitment who was last year’s fourth-stringer, was pressed into action against Clemson but has otherwise not played much. Texas A&M transfer Connor Blumrick has some intriguing running skills at 6-foot-5, 215 pounds but has only been a partial quarterback the past few years. And 2021 signee Tahj Bullock won’t arrive until the summer. If the Hokies are going to succeed this year, they need a healthy Burmeister.

Running back: This group at last broke through last season, with Kansas transfer Khalil Herbert starring behind an impressive offensive line and the Hokies averaging 240.1 rushing yards per game (10th nationally). Though Herbert’s off to the NFL after leading the country in all-purpose yards during the regular season, the Hokies are hopeful they’ve laid the groundwork for the ground game to keep churning out yards.

A trio of backs figure to have the best shot at leading the way. Jalen Holston has waited four years for this opportunity, running hard in limited action last year (he had two angry runs for touchdowns against Miami). He’s slimmed down by about 10 pounds to be more of a home-run threat, a la Herbert.

Former Rutgers transfer Raheem Blackshear figures to be better in Year 2 at Tech, after some health issues set him back early in the 2020 season. Before last season, coaches were actually higher on Blackshear’s potential than Herbert’s, but Blackshear finished with 409 yards from scrimmage to Herbert’s 1,361. Sophom*ore Keshawn King is back after what almost amounted to a redshirt year last fall, when he returned just three kickoffs and didn’t tally a single carry. In his freshman year in 2019, he was the team’s most explosive back.

There’s no shortage of bodies in the running back room, with Marco Lee a bigger back, Tahj Gary a capable pass-catcher and Jordan Brunson and Jalen Hampton youngsters trying to find a role. Herbert might be gone, but there’s reason to think Tech’s rushing attack won’t fall off too much.

Receiver/tight end: It’s not a deep group, something that’s been true for what seems like all of Fuente’s tenure, though the top of the depth chart is promising. Tre Turner and Tayvion Robinson are both two-year starters at receiver who combined for 72 catches, 1,121 yards and six touchdowns last fall and are capable of taking their game up a notch. Add in tight ends James Mitchell (26 catches, 435 yards, four TDs), who came back after considering an NFL leap, and Nick Gallo, and the Hokies have a solid core to build around.

The issue is depth, and the Hokies will need youngsters to play prominent roles. Kaleb Smith is a veteran receiver in the mix, but someone with a higher ceiling is redshirt freshman Jaden Payoute, who missed last year after breaking his ankle in the preseason. With decent size, track speed and great leaping ability, Payoute has the physical tools to excel if he can make up for lost time. Two true freshmen — Da’Wain Lofton and Jaylen Jones — showed a maturity beyond their years this spring as early enrollees. Given the lack of bodies here, especially after senior Changa Hodge’s ACL tear in April, expect those youngsters to play.

Positional versatility gives Tech some leeway here. Mitchell can slide out to the slot, with Gallo and Drake DeIuliis capable of filling the role of a hand-on-the-ground tight end. Blackshear can also move all over as a pass-catcher. But the number of reliable players strictly called wide receivers is low.

Offensive line: Years of program building led to last year, when the Hokies had one of the country’s best, deepest offensive lines, anchored by left tackle Christian Darrisaw. It won’t quite be the same with Darrisaw off to the Minnesota Vikings as a first-round pick, especially with the transfers of two players (Doug Nester to West Virginia, Bryan Hudson to Louisville) who figured to be multiple-year starters.

The cupboard’s not bare, though there’s a definitive split in experience among the returners. Lecitus Smith, Brock Hoffman, Luke Tenuta and Silas Dzansi have combined for 92 career starts. Smith, Hoffman and Tenuta (who flips over to the left side to fill Darrisaw’s shoes) have NFL potential. Add Maryland transfer Johnny Jordan to the mix as a possible center (Hoffman could slide out to right guard), and that’s an experienced crew.

The rest? Not so much. Coaches were pleased with the progress this spring of 6-foot-7, 292-pound freshman Parker Clements, the favorite to start at right tackle. Kaden Moore and Jesse Hanson are coming along as guards, but it’s a light crew beyond them. The backup tackles in the spring were Derrell Bailey Jr., a recently converted defensive lineman, and Danijel Miletic, an early enrollee from Serbia via Germany. Tyrell Smith decided after spring ball to lace them up for what will be his seventh season, though he’s never been much more than a special teams contributor. This is a group where an injury to any starter could be problematic.

Defensive line: The Hokies struck gold with a position change last year, moving Amare Barno down from linebacker and seeing what the 6-foot-6, 235-pounder could do. The answer? Quite a bit. Injuries thrust Barno into a starting role before he was ready, but using raw ability, he led the ACC with 16 tackles for a loss and tied for the team lead with 6.5 sacks.

“The sky is the limit with him,” defensive line coach Bill Teerlinck said. “There is no ceiling.”

There are questions abound at end, however, where senior Emmanuel Belmar (three sacks) missed half of last season with a serious concussion and was limited this spring, Jaylen Griffin is decent as a backup, TyJuan Garbutt is working his way back into shape after a partial opt-out and a trio of ends (Robert Wooten, Justin Beadles, Alec Bryant) are still on the young side. Justin Beadles entered the transfer portal after spring ball.

It’s better on the interior, in large part due to Jordan Williams, a big but mobile 6-foot-1, 310-pounder who transferred from Clemson and could be an anchor for the line.He’ll likely start alongsideNorell Pollard(30 tackles, 4.5 TFLs), who’s upped his game tremendously in the past year, withMario Kendricks,Josh FugaandJaden Cunningham, who missed last year with an Achilles’ injury,as other options.DaShawn Crawford, who was good in 2019 but battled injuries last fall, entered the transfer portal.

The Hokies plan to roll linemen in and out of the game like hockey lines, hoping that can keep players fresh and make up for a group that’s trying to fill some holes.

Linebackers: Dax Hollifield at long last moves into the position he was meant to play, taking over the mike linebacker spot vacated by three-year starter Rayshard Ashby. Hollifield always seemed out of place playing the backer position, which requires a bit more athleticism, but he’s at home in the field general mike spot.

“He’s an absolute foxhole guy,” Hamilton said.

Hollifield’s assumption of the mike opens up backer for Alan Tisdale, an athletic player teeming with talent who wasn’t there physically last year, looking more like a safety than a linebacker. He’s added 10 pounds this offseason to get up in the 220 range, which should help him be more of a physical player in the box.

It’s quite a drop-off in experience beyond those two, with Keshon Artis returning from an opt-out, Dean Ferguson having only played on special teams and three newcomers at backer: converted safety Lakeem Rudolph, early enrollee Isi Etute and Marshall transfer C.J. McCray.

Defensive backs: The Hokies gave up a school-worst 266 passing yards per game last season, and looking at their personnel losses — first-round pick Caleb Farley to an opt-out, Devon Hunter to suspension and Jermaine Waller to injuries — it’s easy to see why.

Waller returns and, if fully healthy, gives the Hokies a legit No. 1 corner, someone who two years ago was nearly on Farley’s level. The ripple effect of his return is felt throughout the cornerback room, where instead of needing to find two reliable corners, Tech needs only one more. Dorian Strong, who shined as a true freshman, and Brion Murray, who coaches praised this spring, figure to get first crack at it, along with Armani Chatman.

The safety group feels settled at two spots. Chamarri Conner is a do-everything nickelback who led the team with 81 tackles last year. Keonta Jenkins assumes the free safety spot after starting out there as a true freshman last fall before a COVID-19 hiatus at the wrong time put him on the back burner for playing time. The 6-foot-3, 194-pounder has some range and a high ceiling.

Devin Taylor and Vanderbilt transfer Tae Daley figure to battle for the boundary safety spot vacated by third-round pick Divine Deablo. Taylor got moved to safety out of necessity last fall, though his tackling was always suspect. Daley opted out last year but jumped right in this spring, impressing teammates with how he took ownership of the defense.

Special teams: It’ll be a tall task for Tech, which replaces both of its kickers. Punter Oscar Bradburn started four years and kicker Brian Johnson three, so this is drastic turnover. Peter Moore, who filled in for an injured Bradburn against Virginia, is the frontrunner at punter, with kickoff specialist John Parker Romo the top kicker for now. Moore has had three career punts and Romo five career field goal attempts in 2018 for Tulsa, so this is far from a proven duo.

The return game has its own questions. Herbert handled kickoffs for much of last year with great success. King and Blackshear figure to be the top options there. Punt return was a disaster last season, with Tech turning it over three times. Things got so bad the Hokies put Mitchell, a tight end who’s hardly a game-breaker, back there simply to catch the ball — and even he had a muff.

This job feels like it’s Robinson’s to reclaim. He was a stud there in 2019, averaging 14.2 yards on 13 returns. He had trouble catching it last year, which eventually led to his benching. If he can put those troubles behind him, he’s the shifty returner Tech desperately needs. Virginia Tech ranked 105th nationally on punt returns last season with a 3.88-yard average.

What others are saying about Virginia Tech

A coach who’s coached against Virginia Tech sees a considerable change from what the program used to be 10 years ago.

“I don’t see them getting the same caliber of player,” he said. “Now, they’re still competitive, they still play hard, they’re disciplined, they’re well-coached. I think Justin (Fuente) does a really good job with what he has, but to me the biggest difference in Virginia Tech I see is their recruiting appears to me like it has really fallen off in the last five years.”

That’s shown up most on the defense, where the Hokies used to be a team to fear in the front seven.

“They’re not as intimidating up front,” the coach said. “Now you can block them. You don’t have to keep a tight end in and run three-man routes. You don’t have to go all seven-, eight-man protection. … They can’t get home as easily as they could in the past, and it’s put a lot more pressure on those back-end players.”

The coach is impressed with how Fuente’s offense has been able to run the ball, calling last year’s ground game “dominant” at times. The issue is having a complementary passing game.

“When he doesn’t have a quarterback that can push the ball down the field in play-action, that’s when his Virginia Tech system struggles.” the coach said. “Last year against them, schematically you could play a lot of eight-man front to defend the run, sometimes even a nine-man front. They’d take the free safety and put him within eight yards of the line of scrimmage because there wasn’t a threat of getting hurt down the field in the throw game. And against the better teams that they played, that really hurt them.

“It’s going to be hard for them to beat good football teams. Tech can always beat the average teams and figure out a way to win six or seven games, but if they’re going to win nine or 10 games, they have got to get defenses into some seven-man boxes with a threat of a pass game.”

That Tech hasn’t consistently found a quarterback to do that in Fuente’s five years is surprising to the coach, who called Burmeister a “solid” player but still ranked him somewhere from 30th to 50th of FBS starters.

“Quite honestly, I’ve been a little bit surprised with (Fuente’s) scheme and his reputation, he hasn’t been able to recruit and develop an NFL-caliber quarterback,” he said. “I thought for certain he’d almost get a quarterback factory developed there, and for whatever reason it just hasn’t happened.”

How the Hokies have recruited from 2018 to 2021

The Hokies’ 2021 class was an improvement on the small 2020 class that ranked 76th nationally in the 247Sports Composite, though it probably wasn’t enough to satisfy a fan base wondering where all the stars have gone. Virginia Tech’s 27-man 2021 class didn’t include a single four-star recruit, and while it’s No. 45 ranking was dramatically better than the previous season, it still only put the Hokies 10th in the ACC, well below their historical place in the league.

Fuente’s response to date has been to reserve judgment of the classes until further down the line, pointing to Christian Darrisaw and Caleb Farley as examples of two non-blue-chip recruits who turned into first-rounders. Finds like Strong and Jenkins have the maligned 2020 class off to a decent start too.

The Hokies had better hope their evaluation and developmental approach can pay off in the long run, because the industry consensus hasn’t looked favorably on their classes in recent years. Defensive tackle Alec Bryant is the lone four-star in the past two classes after Tech had 14 four-star recruits in 2018 and ’19.

Fuente’s recent hires have been aimed at reclaiming a decent standing in the state, where the Hokies have struggled recently, a reality that looks worse by North Carolina’s run of success in the 757, the Hampton Roads area. After the 2020 class featured just one in-state prospect (23rd-ranked Rudolph), the 2021 group featured seven signees from Virginia, though Jalen Stroman was the highest-ranked prospect of that group at No. 16. The Hokies’ only top-10 in-state prospect in the past three classes was Payoute in 2019.

The hope is that a young, energetic coaching staff can revitalize in-state recruiting. Hamilton, J.C. Price and Jack Tyler are alums who can speak personally about Tech’s history and tradition, and Ryan Smith is a Virginia native with all sorts of in-state ties. Can they turn the ship around quickly enough is the question.

Transfers to know

For the first time in the transfer portal era, the Hokies lost some true difference-making talent — and no, we’re not talking about the quarterbacks.

Nester (West Virginia) and Hudson (Louisville) both left this winter, a pair of blue-chip recruits from the 2019 class who figured to be multi-year starters on the offensive line. Hooker (Tennessee) and Patterson (North Dakota State) also left, though coaches knew keeping those two and Burmeister was going to be an impossible task when only one could be the starter.

The Hokies added to their roster through the portal too, though, with Williams coming in from Clemson as a plug to the middle of the defense, Daley coming from Vanderbilt as a vet in a secondary and Jordan coming from Maryland to add experience on an offensive line that gets green very quickly.

Williams, a one-time four-star prospect who comes with a championship pedigree from Clemson, has the best chance to make an impact, though Daley and Jordan could start too. That might not be enough to offset the transfer portal losses this offseason, however.

Impact of coaching changes

Tech turned over two on-field staff positions, though the replacements were not only logical but familiar faces.

Tracy Claeys stepped away from coaching after a one-year stint as the team’s linebackers coach and co-defensive line coach Darryl Tapp took a job in the NFL with the 49ers. Tech replaced them with a pair of standout alums: Tyler, a former All-ACC linebacker for the Hokies from 2009-13 who’d worked with the team in various off-field roles in recent years, and Price, an All-American defensive tackle during the Hokies’ initial rise to prominence from 1992-95 who’d been let go in the coaching change at Marshall.

Claeys was an odd fit positionally, having never coached linebackers before. Tyler is a Bud Foster protégé who knows the position in and out and has adopted a lot of Foster’s style and mannerisms. Price is an all-timer on the defensive line at Tech, and though he might not have the infectious energy that Tapp did, he brings a wealth of experience in a two-decade coaching career and recruiting connections throughout the state.

Price will be a veteran sounding board in the defensive room for Hamilton like Claeys was, but so will Jon Tenuta, the longtime former defensive coordinator at … well, everywhere, who joins the staff as a defensive analyst. Tenuta’s a gruff, tell-it-like-it-is coaching veteran who’s had 15 stops in a four-decade coaching career. A selling point for an off-field role at Tech was to coach at the same school as his son, Luke. His role might not have as wide of a breadth as Jerry Kill did a few years ago, but the hire is in the same vein.

Schedule analysis

There will be no tip-toeing into the season for the Hokies, who play UNC, West Virginia and Notre Dame before the leaves change colors. It feels like we’ll have a pretty good idea of which direction Fuente’s tenure is going by mid-October.

It’s an XXL opener against Mack Brown, Sam Howell and the Tar Heels, with Coastal Division implications right out of the gate on a Friday night. That might not be the worst time to play UNC, which returns one of the nation’s top quarterbacks but should still be figuring out how to replace its star skill players who left for the NFL this winter.

It doesn’t get easier early in the year. The always-hostile trip to Morgantown is the team’s first since 2005, and Notre Dame, who the Hokies will play for the fourth time in six years (and who won’t come back on the slate until 2027), is a good bet to be a top-15 team.

It would behoove the Hokies to get off to a fast start, because the home schedule is extremely front-loaded. Six of their first seven games are in Lane Stadium, with four of the last five on the road, including a closing stretch at Miami and Virginia.

The nonconference portion isn’t easy, but at least the Hokies miss Clemson as a crossover opponent, hosting Syracuse instead, making the ACC part manageable.

Final assessment

Fuente enters the 2021 season squarely on the hot seat, and the only way off it is to win. Depth is a concern up and down the roster, but the Hokies have a starting 22 that looks pretty good on paper and is strong enough that you could envision a scenario where if Tech avoids injuries at key spots, it’ll be right in the Coastal mix. That’s not where the Hokies wanted to be in Year 6 of the Fuente era, but it’s the program’s reality right now, with just one 10-win season in the past nine years.

The Beamer standard of double-digit wins is a big ask for this team, especially with a challenging nonconference schedule, but the Hokies are capable of winning the Coastal Division if things fall right.

Virginia Tech’s national championship odds from BetMGM: +10,000

(Top photo: Matt Gentry / The Roanoke Times / ACC pool)